Chapter 8, Prayer of a dragon
"What do you mean 'he's gonna die'?" Flea demanded, he and the other spirits dashing to Levana and Dreamer's side.
The Pawn and Wizard tensed as they felt a pull, stronger this time. The body of Janus didn't move, but a fleeting, transparent image of him suddenly moved out of the warlock. Slowly as if moving through glue and with its eyes closed, the shadow held out its arms like it carried something.
The arms fell forwards, spreading above Janatzer's head and chest through the glowing ribbons of power.
"His time is almost up, see?"
The ancient Mystic pointed at the hourglass she held while the sand slowly but steadily moved.
"Mmh…"
A weak groan left the young man's lips, and his eyelids fluttered slightly.
The image of Janus smiled, a smile so gentle that it seemed alien.
Moving no faster than earlier, the reflection floated backwards towards the motionless body of the warlock.
The Student and the Pawn exchanged relieved glances.
"He's got about ten… well, nine minutes now."
"That can't be right, his book of Life isn't even half filled," lord Amon pointed out, frowning.
As the spirit image melted into the body, Janus' eyes opened and he smiled slightly, not as much as his shadow had done however.
Janatzer's eyes opened. He blinked in tired confusion, disoriented looking up at the three men standing around him and the garlands of light connecting their chests in a net. He couldn't see properly through the mist and glow.
"Precisely!" Dreamer concernedly said, "his time is up but he's not halfway through his life yet!"
Lizard shook his head and stared ahead with a frown.
"Whatever it is, something will hit him any second, we have to…"
Janus nodded slightly, and the hands of the three men let go of each other.
With a soft popping sound the ribbons broke into a million shards of light.
"That can't kill him!" Levana called in disbelief, staring at the empty air just like all the others now were doing.
The warlock's eyes widened in sudden shock and he fell towards the floor while the shards still were disintegrating.
For a moment silence ruled heaven.
"This can't be happening!" queen Zeal hissed.
"What the…!"
Moving simultaneously the Pawn and his apprentice dove for their mirror and caught him before he crashed.
"Maybe he'll be an undead?" Snake said with distaste in her voice.
"Janus!"
The bubble around the smaller group shattered as the call rang in the air and the two dimensional guests carefully lowered the warlock to the ground.
"Well, we did all we could to make him look like a vampire…" Flea casually commented, thoughtfully scratching his cheek with one finger.
"I will not have a zombie for a son!" Levana stated, clenching her fists.
"Vampire," Slash corrected, "zombies fall apart all the time and eat brains, there's a huge difference."
"Yeah, and vampires have better manners. Apart from the sleeping in a coffin and the whole bloodsucking business," Flea nodded, "not to mention the weakness to the surk!"
"Shut. Your. Damn. Mouth," Amon growled.
Molor was beside the group of blue-hairs before anyone else had time to even take a step forwards. Seeing a creature like the black snake charge towards you gives anyone a start and such was the Pawn's reaction, but the Student literally jumped and even reached for the staff lying on the floor until Janus reached up a slightly shaking hand to touch the black head. Then the man wearing a shirt instead of breastplate murmured something about "thought you were something else" but left it at that due to the situation. Molor probably never noticed him in any case.
"Barrier should hide…" Janus muttered in a hoarse voice.
"Don't push me, friend," the snake snarled, the words wavering strangely.
"Well, there's only one thing to do in a situation like this, anyway," Dalton said and crossed his arms.
"How in Lavos' name can you be this weak?" the Pawn spoke, frowning while he held his hand above his mirror's forehead.
The glares of the approaching people almost burned a hole through his skin.
"What?" he said, looking up as he felt it. But in the last moment he stopped himself from turning around.
"He doesn't mean it like that…" Janus grunted.
The souls nodded in agreement.
"What's happening, uncle?" Janatzer slurred, sitting up as his father reached out to support him.
"We'd like to know that to," the Pawn said and shook his head, "he had enough power to make it to the other side and back, we didn't remove what we gave him. Still, his life seem to be slipping away."
"What!?"
"Azran!"
The call of the choir shook the golden landscape.
"Damn all you warriors… excuse me. Move aside."
The Pawn just moved as he was told, but Molor did it more due to the surprise of the request as the Student stepped forwards – keeping his eyes on the warlock all the time – and sat down on his knees beside Janus.
What happened next caused every single man, woman and snake to blink.
The blue-haired man – strange enough already for being a Janus with his dialect; though he used the same sort of pants he also wore a white-brown shirt and a bandana, not at all like the other two – raised his palms towards the faltering one and closed his eyes. As he straightened up in that position, it was revealed that the right side of his face was adorned with a sharp vertical scar that split the cheek and eyebrow, though the eye itself seemed to have survived the attack.
But it wasn't half as peculiar as what he did.
"Powers of the world, lend me the power of Water," he chanted, "na matala sela."
Healing stars streamed from his palms, showering over the warlock who grunted of the surprise.
The magic lasted for a few seconds and the strange one's eyes shot open below a frown as Janus' head shook.
It hadn't helped, the warlock's face was still turning even paler as the life in his crimson gaze steadily ebbed.
With his eyes thinning, the Student reached further ahead and turned his palms at Janus' forehead and chest.
A sliced eyebrow went upwards and the hands moved away.
"You're not dying."
The statement was just as bewildered as the half words leaving the family and friends' lips.
Janus' eyes fluttered and his breath came out ragged as he tried to speak somewhat properly, clutching after the last of his strength.
"Why… does… it feel… like it… then?" he croaked.
The Student ran his hand through his fringe in confusion.
"Yes, you're dying, I can see that," he tried to explain what he didn't even understand himself, "but there's nothing killing you. You had enough strength to survive that trip, and there are no wounds and no sickness."
"That settles it, something is ajar here!" Magician said, shaking his head.
"Yes, but what do we do about it?" Amon concernedly wondered, absentmindedly picking up the nervous Alfador.
"And Lavos is out of his soul, I guarantee it," Molor hissed, glaring at his friend in despair.
As one person the two visiting Januses winced, but left it at that.
Schala could no longer care about messing up time, too worried about her brother she almost pushed the Pawn aside to reach Janus.
Hurt and longing flashed in the once enslaved man's eyes as he looked at a sister who was much older than he remembered and who didn't even belong to him. She glanced briefly at him when she fell to Janus' side, trying to comfort another brother. It helped, a little.
A second later as she turned her head the blue-haired woman found her own gem eyes staring into a set of glistening ruby ones, just like Janus' when he was younger. But there was more than the scar making a difference. Deep within the red eyes of the Student was a shining power, unlike the one that Schala saw in her brother.
There was light within the visitor.
For just half a heartbeat the surprise mesmerized her, then she turned to her real brother and grasped his much bigger hands in hers. The normally strong fingers were cold as ice, and the chill burned her heart with fear.
Azran floated into existence and ducked for the pouncing souls.
"What in all powers' name is happening?!"
"Calm down and let me explain, I did some research as I heard what was happening…" the angel quickly said, holding up his hands defensively.
"Oh good," Levana said in a tense but somewhat less high pitched voice, "then what is it, and what do we do about it?"
The guardian scratched his hair.
"Ah… would you believe this is caused by a prayer of Molor's?"
He ducked again, grabbed Dreamer's arm in the escape and used her as a human… monster shield until he could finish the explanation.
"Janus…" Schala croaked in a broken whisper, her relief over winning him back from Lavos now crushed back into the mud.
He tried to speak, but his lips were limp with his own body's coldness.
"Uncle!"
The Student was quite gracelessly shoved aside and blinked in surprise at the young woman in the white dress; a mirror of Schala. Janus cringed weakly at the tears flooding from the younger eyes. Schaliya's slender fingers encircled those of her mother and uncle, her body shaking with sobs. Seeing his wife like that Glenn could no longer stand idle and stumbled around the small crowd and stretcher to her side, draping his arms around Schaliya's shoulders in a fleeting attempt to offer her a drop of comfort.
But she didn't even seem to register the touch.
"Uncle, we need you here…" she managed in a broken voice.
Janus cringed again, unable to make his numbing body give her any soothing sign.
"Go Dreamer! Hurry!"
All the time this happened, Lashey stood paralyzed with the shocked heroes from the future, unable to speak in her horror. Vaguely she registered a hand on her shoulder, but couldn't tell who dared to touch a broken empress such as her.
Janus was hardly aware at anything anymore. His sight was filling up with mist by the second and the world was steadily slipping away around him. As from a far distance he thought that he could hear Molor's voice scream in agony inside of his mind, but it was fading as well… fading to black, in a chillingly familiar way…
"Stay!"
The voice rang out in the thickening air and Janus' body shivered for a moment as his eyes –which had been falling to a close – exploded wide open, not in pain but some sort of shock.
"What…" Schala stuttered, looking up as she saw a movement in the corner of her eye.
In the confusion the rest of the assembled people could do nothing but do as she did, frowning as their minds tried to grasp the new concept.
It wasn't an illusion, nor an image. Not even a touchable entity. Just a transparent silhouette near the roof. The only reason it was visible was since the air was slightly blurred. Due to the circumstances, it was impossible to see what it was. Still it seemed… familiar.
"I'm here to help," it announced with a calming smile in its female voice, "but before I reveal myself I just wanted to tell you that I'm not who you'll think I am."
No reply was heard.
The thing sighed slightly.
"Alright, just remembered what I said, I'm not…"
It swept into proper sight.
"… Flea," the soul quickly assured, holding up the hand that wasn't occupied with a heavy-looking book.
"But thou… art…?" Cered stuttered, the first one able to voice the shock.
"Dreamer, Magician's daughter," the female monster explained as she descended to the floor, "I'm the current Writer of Janus' Book of Life."
"My what…" the warlock muttered with a slight slur.
His voice was clearly stronger now, however, and Schala almost tore him up in a relieved, defensive hug.
"It's the book where your life is written down in the afterlife," Dreamer said while landing between the bewildered Glenn and Student.
She shrugged lightly, not an easy task considering her burden.
"Don't ask me why, it's regulations. Anyway, here's the problem."
Opening the book she produced a nearly emptied hourglass from the pages.
"As I've explained to the gang up there," she said and waved at the roof, "your time is almost up but your life isn't, which is quite mystifying."
Schala lowered her brother again as he looked up at the soul with a deepening frown.
"What…" he murmured.
Dreamer tapped her glasses with her pointing finger, smiling faintly.
"Well, I believe this is the first time something like this actually happens, but our dear old angel have sorted things out. You're not supposed to die right now, but you seem to be out of lifetime, Janus. The only way you'll get through this one is that somebody gives you a part of his time."
For a moment the world didn't move.
"No."
The mutter from the pale lips wasn't strong, but it was determined.
"Yes."
Molor shook his head at the warlock and looked up at Dreamer. She glanced down with a smile, while scribbling in the tome which suddenly was obediently floating in the air beside her. The pen in question was nonexistent, but as she moved her hand as if holding a writing tool the letters appeared on the page. The hourglass neatly hung above the manuscript.
"Got flattened… by a friend… again," she murmured to herself and chuckled as the hand fell, "sorry Janus, I doubt you have a say in this."
"Molor!" the warlock hissed, shaking his head.
The snake's intense glare nearly forced everyone else backwards.
"I did not fight Lavos to loose you just because you are out of time, friend," the old king of dragons growled in a deeper voice than normal, "and I rather give up more of my life than live on alone."
Normally only things that were about to be swallowed whole were under that gaze. And it was questionable whether Janus would have been able to take it even at full health.
He closed his eyes in defeat.
Dreamer held out her other hand and snapped her fingers. Upon the sound another book came into her grasp from nothingness, this one much bigger and thicker than Janus'. It had a darker cover too. Much darker.
"We sorta expected that," the soul said with a wink, "here we are…"
She opened the book on its last fifth, calling upon another hourglass. As with Janus' tome, Molor's script was bigger than the warlock's.
"Your current Writer didn't want to make an appearance though," Dreamer said as she kept watching the snake with the hint of an amused smirk, "said he just wrote about you, but that didn't make him want to see you again."
"Oh really?" Molor suspiciously said.
Dreamer nodded.
"Yeah, something about you biting his head off last time you met."
The transformed dragon nodded his great head slowly.
"Ah. Him," he said with a dry hiss that sounded a bit too much like a chuckle.
"Molor!" Ceredan gasped in disbelief and even Janus looked lightly startled.
With the smallest grain of guilt visible Molor briefly turned his head at the bigger crowd, but left it at that. He looked at Dreamer again.
"Never mind. I am glad to give Janus a part of my lifetime," he firmly said.
"Your two transformations has caused enough to slip away to make it almost perfectly even between the two of you," the soul of the Mystic gently announced and looked up at the crowd, "I'll spread the extra years over the rest of you. Well…"
She apologetically shrugged her shoulder at the Pawn and Student.
"You two aren't in my area though, sorry."
"I believe we'll manage, thanks anyway," the youngest said with a slight smile, shaking his head.
"Very well then."
Dreamer took Molor's hourglass in both hands and glared at it, frowning as she focused.
"Here we go!"
A gentle flash erupted from the ancient clock, moving through the room as if it had been water. All sounds sunk into hibernation as the light enveloped the entire room, giving everything it touched a soft glow.
For several moments, only serene peace existed.
Then slowly a faint sound was born; a low, tingling sound. Heartbeat by heartbeat it grew into a soft flow – moving sand.
Through the glow the spectators could see tiny grains melt out of existence in Molor's hourglass, to tinkle down inside the upper half of Janus' artifact. Soon the smaller one of the two counters was half filled, while there was less in the bigger.
"It evens out," Dreamer assured as the flow ended and the light began to ebb away, "you've had a longer life already, snakey, thus it looks like you have less time left even if you don't."
The snake was hardly listening, intently watching his kindred soul.
"Ugh," Janus muttered as he sat up with the help of one arm, while the free hand rubbed his forehead.
"How are you feeling?" Schala demanded, gripping his shoulders.
It wasn't until he gave his temple a quick massage that she noticed that the gray hairs formerly teasing his hair by the ears now were gone.
"I'm…"
He blinked a few times to restore full sight before his sharp, crimson eyes turned at his sister.
His lips twitched.
"… Fine. Ouff!"
"Hast thou not learnt by now that causing ladies unease will bring harm upon thee as they are relieved?" Glenn mildly commented as Janus was forced to fight for breath in the tight embraces of his sister and niece.
The warlock was about to snap back when his two nephews added to the problems by in their joy swallow the pride of a teenage boy and hug their uncle as well. At least, as well as they could since the female parts of their family was in the way.
"And you know, I thought he looked like a rather depressed version of us," the Student said with a slight chuckle and shrug.
He hadn't really meant for anyone to hear, but Glenn did and curiously looked at him. The swordsman's eyebrows twitched as he eyed the strange Janus, noticing the same differences as his mother-in-law had seen.
"Uh…" Glenn managed, deep down thinking that there should be a limit of how many mystifying things were allowed to happen in one day.
"Judging from your look, I'd say I was right," the Student cheerfully commented with a chuckle.
There should really, really be a limit.
"Alright then, everybody happy?" Dreamer said with a cheeky laugh, "good, I've got a lot of writing to catch…"
She fell silent and glanced upwards thoughtfully, as if listening.
The innocent move caused the revival of the room's tension; fear that the mercy had received a cruel judgment from higher forces.
But when Dreamer looked down again it was not with disappointed grief, but with an all too familiar-looking glee.
"Message from the other side," she said with a small sneer, "Levana Zeal announces that she shook Flea until he spoke up about 'those blue things' as they call it."
"What blue things?" was the general opinion.
The general opinion, but with two exceptions.
Janus and the Pawn exchanged pained, knowing glances and then scowled at the ancient Mystic.
"What about them?" the younger warily asked.
"Well…"
Dreamer shot upwards, towards the safety of distance. The books and their artifacts followed her.
"Apparently, he finally admitted that he lied to you about them," she said, quickly crossing her arms in defense.
Red eyes met red eyes again in silence.
Two right hands went up and pinched the bridge of a nose each.
"That sick, twisted bastard," a pair of voices growled.
"If it makes you happier, Slash and Ozzie are shouting the same at him," Magician's daughter chuckled, "as for now, tata!"
She waved a little with her hand and then popped out of existence, with much less grace than she had appeared. Her item-companions followed suite.
"Too bad he's already dead in my time stream," the Pawn snarled as he stood, "I'd tear him apart…"
"What blue things?" Marle asked from the other half of the room, raising her eyebrows.
"You don't want to know," two voices said simultaneously.
"Oh, I can fry him for you," the Student said with a slanted smile and picked up his staff, looking away as much as possible from the assembled people even if he already had seen most of them.
Lucca was about to say something about the magician being very allergic to being cleaved, but remembering how the ol' psychopath had fought Lavos she let it slide.
"Speaking of which," the Student told the wall, "I'm glad that I was able to help you, but like my teacher I don't belong here and if I don't get back soon the king and queen will have my head."
Complete silence fell over the room.
Again.
It was getting a little repetitive.
After a couple of seconds the Student rubbed the back of his neck, slightly uneasy.
"What?" he said, but there was no tension in his voice.
Instead of worried, he sounded rather amused.
"The who will what?" Glenn finally spoke in a bit of a high pitched voice.
"King Guardia and Leene just tend to get nervous when I'm wandering around considering said magician has planned to drink my blood for dinner," the Student cheerfully said with a shrug.
The power of silence ruled for another moment.
"We better put you back where you belong before you cause our reality to implode or something, mister," Lucca weakly said, earning a short laugh from the danger in question.
"Yes, I still have to find Schala," the Pawn said and straightened up with a slight sigh.
"You'll manage."
Janus stood, allowing all the helping hands to assist him even if he truly felt he didn't need him. By then he had learnt that there were things one could not fight, family love being one.
"But when you've done that," he said, "you will also have found your version of Molor, if our lives will keep a somewhat similar form…"
"I think I smell distrust," the Student said, without any anger.
"Something like that," Janus approved with a grunt, "in any case, as soon as you find Molor, ask him to search out Lavos inside of your minds and if possible drive him out before he gets a strong grip like the parasite did with me."
"I can't speak for other versions but I believe I could have found him," the snake admitted and shook his head, "but there was never a reason for me to venture that deeply inside Janus' mind."
"Giant, talking snakes," the Pawn murmured and crossed his arms, "quite fascinating."
Molor gave the former slave a somewhat smirking glance.
"There is more than that, but I will leave that for you to discover yourself," the transformed dragon did speak.
"Lovely."
While the Pawn shook his head in vague disbelief, Janus stepped over to the Student's side of the stretcher which divided the room. There was more space there, and thus the warlock chose that area to open the dimensional Gate. Following the fizzling sound of the magic, the two mirrors turned and walked towards the darkness.
Without looking around the Student fulfilled the strange appearance by waving a little over his shoulder before he disappeared from sight.
Janus looked around as the youngest one's teacher also left.
"I'll be back in a moment," the warlock said.
"Don't you need to rest?" Schala quite furiously protested.
Her brother smiled a little.
"In a minute."
"Why you…"
She stretched out her hand after him, but he dove through the Gate.
"Oh! I'm going to…"
And Janus came back, the portal closing behind him.
Slowly Schala crossed her arms.
"That was silly, brother," she stated.
"Such was not my intention," he calmly replied.
"Will you sit down and let all of us recover already?" the princess scolded.
A pale hand absentmindedly stroke Molor's black head, the snake's cold eyes shining with final relief.
"I would appreciate that myself," the warlock said, placing his other hand firmly on Janatzer's shoulder.
The youngster placed his own hand on his uncle's, gratefully smiling with the same relief as Molor.
Janus' gaze ran over the assembled people and their smiles, coming to a halt by a pale face that carried more hesitance that happiness. Lashey looked away, bitter over that she had not been able to offer support a third crucial time.
Inwardly, the warlock sighed deeply, but Molor was the only one who could feel it.
And the traitor of a snake-dragon grinned to himself, shielding the almost disinclined feelings to his kindred spirit in respect. It was very tempting, however.
"Let's just recover for a while," Janus said and briefly rolled his eyes in second defeat, "then there is one more thing we'll have to take care of."
Lashey frowned in unsure hope as she found that the warlock was looking back at her without the slightest hesitation, not sure what he was thinking.